The City of Orange Beach is excited to announce the inaugural Freedom Fest, a Fun Annual Arts Weekend, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 9 at The Wharf.
The event will include 100 artists covering a wide variety of mediums and crafts, local music, food, Kids Zone, charity motorcycle ride and Singing for Scholarships student competition. Commemorative merchandise, such as T-shirts, will also be available.
With the cancellation of the National Shrimp Festival, Mayor Tony Kennon had the city step up and provide a venue for artists and guests who will still be in town that second weekend in October. The community has since also stepped up to provide support for the event. Businesses and organizations that have helped include The Wharf, Flora-Bama, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Sports & Events, and Pepsi. Additional sponsors include Beachball Properties, Zeke's Marina-Lynn Swafford, Gulf Coast Rentals, Orange Beach Family Dentistry-Dr. Lauren Lee, Kasey Harris-Brett/Robinson, The Beach Moms, Bailey Stitt-Merrill Lynch, Steward Construction-Darrell Steward, ATA Loss Consulting, Go Time Travel and Advanced Carpet Cleaning & Restoration LLC.
The event will take place on the west end of The Wharf, adjacent to the movie theater. It will be the same location of Seafood Fest vendors in February.
The music stage will feature Brown Barnes Band, Cole Sitzlar, Tres Amigos and Strickly Rivers.
FOOD
First of all, YES! There will be cajun pistols, thanks to Bon Temps PoPoys, which will also serve jambalaya. Other menu items from a variety of vendors will include empanadas, BBQ, burgers and Freedom fries, Hawaiian shaved ice and Acai fruit bowls, just to name a few things. Also, The Wharf's restaurants will be open for everyone to enjoy.
PARKING
Parking will be on-site at The Wharf. A shuttle system will also run from the Orange Beach Middle / High School parking lot with pickup at the tower, and city shuttles will also run from the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
MUSIC
On the music stage at the Freedom Festival the following entertainers will perform. Miss Alabama Lauren Bradford, who is from Gulf Shores, will also take the stage around lunchtime.
9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - Strictly Rivers
10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. - Tres Amigos
12:30- 2 p.m. - Brown Barnes Band
2:15-3:45 p.m. - Cole Sitzlar